Mechanical musical instrument.



KOCH, MECHANICAL MUKSIGAL INSTRUMENT. APPLIoA-TION FILED 00T. 1s. 1905.

1 ,054329.7; Patented Fen 25, 1913.

' e SHEETS-sum1 1.

. n 17" mlurrowers x I. l

' H. KOCH. MECHANICAL lMUSIGAL INSTRUMENT.

` APPLIOTION FILED 00T.16, 1905.

Petenned Feb. 25, 1913() 8 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Y H. KOCH. MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. 7

. APPLICATION FILED 00T. 116/1905. 1,054,297.

Patented Feb 6 SHEETB-BHEET 3.

TTOHNE Y S yH. KOCH. MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLIOATIQN FILED OCT. 18, 1905.

1,054,297. C L Patented Feb.25,1913.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

H. KOCH. MEGHANIUAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. A PPLOATION FILED 0612,16, 1905.

l mi@ Patented Feb. 25, i913.

H. KOCH.

HEOHANIOAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. unicum: rn'xm oor. 1e, 1905.

e SHEETS-amm 6..'

l IN1/mmf? u l Q l 174// m1155555; ,e 6'/ 3 Br J- 6MM/wm E 1,054,297. v Patented Feb.25,1913,;

per roller I), and it has heen deemed unneeessar) to repeat the showing tliere in full, Fig. 1 simply indieating the arm Q having a forked end Q and pivoted at R'-l to an.

elbow lever R fidi-ruined at R. connecting bar S extends from the lever R to the cam O. spring l" eonneets the arni 1 with the elbow lever X and has a tendency to piill said' arin upward into the reeess Bt; normally, however. the sheet Cis in the path of the end l so as to keep it outside the re- Cess B and similarly the, end Q is norinally kept b v the sheet C t'roin dropping into the reeess ot the upper rollei` I). spring eorresponding to l" is not required for the upper arni Q. as its weight will sufiee to make it enter the reeess ot' the roller D at the proper time. In order to allow of this inward niovenient of th` arms P and Q, the sheet C is provided near eaeli end. along one edge. with a ent-ont portion C2.

it being understood that the ends P. Q of said arms are in planes` eorreslmnding to the loeation of said eut-oiit portions Cfu The eaiii 0 engages a roller 'I`2 earried by the, note holder T. tiilernined at 'l"` and provided with a roller T3 adapted to engag the note sheet (v atv the saine point where said sheet is engaged. on the opposite side, hy a roller U. to be referred to hereinafter. rl`lie note holder l normally rests on the eain t) by gravity, but iiia v he swung ont ot the way. if desired. bv means of the handle l.`*. The note holder fiirther eai'ries a roller T". jonriialed at rl". ln oider to prevent noise and jars upon the downward movement. of the note holder. l provide the dash-pot arrangement shown in Fig. 1. where a e vlinder V having a vent V is pivaoted to the traine at A' while a piston rod V2 is pivoted to the note holder aty V and se'eiiied to the pis` ton V* at the other end.

Another portion of the cam O engages a roller TV at the end ot: an arm lV seein'ed to a shaft \V'. This shaft also earries rigidl)7 three arms W3. Wt. W, the fiinetions ot' wliieli will he deseiilied presently. ()ne of these arms "2 has a hook adapted to engage a pin X npon an elbow lever X f'ileriiined at X2. The said le\ er is pivotall)y oonneeted with a rod Y.,having a like connection with a lever Z. fiilernnied at Z' and pushing the rod Y upward under rthe iuthienee of a spring Z. (hi-the other side of its t'ixli'runi. the lev\ r Z is eonneeted b v a rod u, with a lever t'ulerumed at lf. lo this lever is pivoted at f a linger r. the movement ot' wliieh is limited hv a pin e2 on the lever. The finger e is engaged liv a lot-king lever (I tuleruuied at rl' and having a noteli d? for the reeeption ot the end of a starting lever f. tiileruuieil at e' and provided with a lug the purpose nl' 'whieli will be deserilied liei'eiinil".ei'. rl`he starting lever may lieoperated direet'l)r b v hand. may j be min-controlled. The end of A the level X is adapted to drop into one or nore open ings Ca arranged in the note sheetlat places corresponding to the end of '.i piece.

The second arm W* is adapted to engage 7o an elastic member f secured to a lever f fnlcrnmed at f2 and ressed downward by u' spring f3. The en or heel f* of this lever is tliiis freed avainst the note sheet C. which is provided= C* in the path of the several heels f* (See Fig. 2). The end of the elastic member 1' is adapted to loek the` haininertg against ,vibration b v engaging a shoulder g' thereon,

(see Fig. 2^) the said hammer being nioiinted on a support which constantly vibrated h v suitable iiieehanisni. The said member f is alsogeonneete'd b v a rod f, with the daniper li. fiilcriimed at .71. -Tt will be understood that eaeh string has its own damper,

liaiinner .lever and connected parts. The arrangement of strings i, hammers g, dainpers i, and in general the sound-producing meehanisin proper, forms no part of the. in-

vention claimed inl this applieation.

with the nsiial openings The third arm, W5, is adapted to engage* jeeted into the path of an' arm 0 on the 'shaft of the governor n. yA spring p is attaehed to the lever Z to press the levers U and against the end of the lever j.

A spring m2 keeps the upper end'of the 105 lever inl against the lever buty should lie weaker than the spring p. The normal position ot the parts, that is the positionof rest. shown in Figs. 9 and t0, before an \v music sheet has been inserted is as follows: no `The arm Tand parts eonneete'd therewith rare in thevraised position (Fm-2^) or in the lowered position (Fig. 2) the .roller l is in a position farther toward the left than shown in Fig. Q. or in other words. is'in 115 the position shown in Fig. 9 andthe lower end of the lever m is to the let'tof the pesi n tion shown in Fig. 3 so that the lug n2 is in the path of the governi armo as elearly shown in Fig. 9: the motor therefore 120 Cannot he started. The eani is raisedlon the right-hand side of its pivot 0. being therefore in the position of Fig. l. and the arms '3. lV* and are in their lower positions; shown in Fig. 2. 'lhe lever X is 12;-,

raised at its lower end ginder the 4intlueuee of the spring ZL so that the left-hand eiul of lever Z stands lower than iii Fig. il eaus-V ing the right-hand ot'l lever l to stand higher than'in Fig. 5, or in other words in the 1-30 Ji. and having a lng n2 adapted to bepro- 100 position shown in Fig. 10. The locking lever l is in the releasing position shown in Fig. l0 (that is the notched end cl2 is swung to the lett from the position Fig. 5)-

to the position shown in Fig. 2; This move-.

ment of the roller ll through the lever le moves the lever Z on its pivot. thus moving the one end of the said lever Z in the direction away froin'th'e lever m. Under the inlluence of the spring m2 the lower end of the lever m is moved from the position shown in Fig. 9 to thev position shown in Fig. 3,

causing the lever n to he swung on its vpivot so as to raise the lugnQ andremove it 'troni the pathl of 'the governor arm 0; the lug c2, however` remains in the path of the said arxn so that the motor will not start at vonce upon the introduction of a sheet. The movement of the lever X, upon the aforesaid insertion of the sheet, eanses. the Aright-hand end of the lever t) to be lowered to theposif tion shown in Fig.l 1l, the lever d however, remaining 1n its releaslng position as shown lin said Fig. 1l. To start the operation the lever e isv swung in the direction oli-the arrow in Figs. 3 and t), thus causing the .lng c' to move out otk the. path of the arm o and releasing the governor and with it. themetor, which isot' any .suitable kind. chain F will drive the -lower roller l Athrough the gearing E', B2, in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, and the note sheet C will be wound onsaid roller,4 and unwonnd from the upper roller D., .\s

. the sheet C; when, however, any heel drops into one of' the openings-Cdi otthe sheet.'

the corresponding htunmer is entirely rcleascd, and the respective damper swung ott the string. As soon as the heel fgclears the Aopening C4, vthe parts resume the position shown in F 2. As soon as the cut-out por tio-n (JZ of the music sheet gets past the vend .1l otl tli r-ar`ln i7, the sheetwlll raise said The end out of the recess Braud in the further l operation the end I" will rest on the outer surface of the. sheet. This'explanation.fully describes the condition ot' the parts during` the playing of theinst-riunent. f At the end of a piece (and in some eases'there are several p'iee'es on the same note sheet C) the end of the lever X will drop into the'opening C ofthe note sheet, and this will cause the lever b to move upward atthe right hand end, lthus swinging the locking lever d to` release the starting lever e as indicated by the arrow `in Figia 5. .The latter, under the influence lof. its spring e, or other means having a Ytendency to throw thelug e2 of said lever toward the governor arm o', swings to.4 the position in which the lug e? is in the path of the arm o', and the instrument is .thus stopped. A new operation of the in-v strument, for pl yingV the next `piece on the sheet, is started by again swinging -the lever c in the direction of the arrow. l

lVhen the note sheet4 has almost fully unwound from the upper will), the forked end Q ofthe arm Q will drop into the eutout portion C2 at that end of the sheet, and into the recess of the upper roll (corresponding to the recess B4). and will be engaged by a .pin correspondingto B because .in playing the upper roll then turns in` a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1. This will exert a thrust on the arm Q. in :nu-li a. manner as to nio-ve the ram (l. downward (at its right hand portion), and such movementv will perform simultaneously the, following operations.

First. the arm )V5 of the shaft )V2 (which shaft is rockedby the roller lV) willbe lifted to brine its ypin in engagement with the lever j, tiusswinging said lever j on its pivot and causing its upper end to push the. levers U and into the position shown in Fig. 2^, atthe saine' time the .lever j is kicked by said pin. The upper end of the lever la: Will thus swing the lever l against the tension of the spring p. Undeiwthe infiuence of the Spring m2 the lever m Will follow the movement otithe lever Z, but this ,slight movement of the lever fm, will only move the lug m` farther from the path ot' the governor arm o.

Secondfthe note holder 'l will be brought .to the position shown in Fig. 2A, thus allow ing the portion ot' the sheet C between the `rollers l, l) to move slightly forward as however` ,prevented by the loeldng of the lever as above described.

y ,lhird7 the arm W4 swings the elastic. members f upward and' thus locks the haininers g and dempers it, or, in other words,

renders the sound-producing devices inactive.

Fourth, thev arm XV, with its hook lV", engages the pin X of the leverl X, swings said lever slightly rearward, and locks` it in the rear position. g

As the `shifting movement of the cam O nears its end, the lower pin M will engage the hook L3 and swing the lever L to lift the rod I. This movement will first compress the spring K and as soon as the spring acquires a suiiicient tension, it will quickly throw the lever' ll, and with itthe clutch sleeve E, to their other or reversing position.' If the spring K were omitted, the operation would not be so reliable, as it might happen that the clutch sections E2, E3 would be disengaged and the clutch sleeve come to a stop before the clutch sections E7, Es would come. into operative relation. As soon as the clutch sleeve has been shifted. the

lupper roller D will. be driven by the chain G, the lower roller B turning simply by the pull of the sheet C which now winds on the upper roller. lV hen the sheet is' almostunwound from the lower roller B, the forked end l" 0f the lever l will register with the corrcsl'mnding cut-eut portion C2 of the Sheet C, and will thus be allowed to swing into the recess B4. As the roller B is now rotating in the direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow in Fig. l, the pin l will exert a thrust on the arm l and will thus swing the cam O back to its original position. All the parts controlled directly by the cam will thus resume thc positions shown in Fig. i2. Toward the cud ot' the cains moveuient. the upper pin .ll will engage the hook L2 and thus shift theA clutch sleeve 1C't back to the position shown in Fig.

G. One of the openings C". is so arranged as to register with the cud ot' the lever X at this time, and through the mechanism hereinbctore described, the starting?)` lever c will bc allowcdto arrest thc motor by contact ot' the lug c`` with the governor arm o'. The instrument will then be ready to'play againas soon as the. startingr lever e is operated to release thc motor.

It will be observed that thc shifting mechanism proper. which transi'crs the driving; action from om` ot' thcy rollers il, l). to the other, is not operated until after the position .ot all the other parts has been changed, thus insuring1 a reliable operation. rlhis successive action is obtained by the loose or 1 independent inovcnnrnt dnotothc space left l-ctween the hooks lf, lj and the plus hl.

The rollcr li Will also move forward in case the. note holder 'l should accidentally be thrown into thc ii/isiion shown in l"i, j. "l", during the laying ot the inst rumcnt. Such forward morena-nt ot-- tlu` rollcr ll will cause the logra" lo stop thc motor by cngag- A ing the arm o'.

The position of the arts shown in Fig. l2 is an accidental one, irought about by the manual movement oi the lever e in av direction to remove the lug c 4trom the path of the governor arm o. This posit-ion occurs only when this operation of the lever c takes place before a sheet has been inserted in position. To prevent this accidental niovement ot' the lever c from locking the parts against further operation, the pivoted dog,r c is provided, so that as the sheet is inserted in position and the parts are ope 'ated as hereinbefore described, this dog will be free to swing on its pivot c so as'to pass ,the-

locking level' rl into the position shown in Fig. The movement of the dog c in the opposite directiomis prevented bythe pin c'.

I claim as my invention:

l. ln a mechanical musical instrument. thc combination of a note sheet. two rolls to which the respective ends of the sheet arc secured` mechanism for driving either one of said rolls. and means, controlled by the end portions ot the sheet. for making! said rolls sel-vc alternately as winding.;r ordriving,r rolls, said means comprising a rod and a spring connected with said rod to insure a quick chanfre trom one roll to the other.

2. lln a mechanical musical instrument, thc combination ot' a note sheet having cntont portions` two rolls to which the rcspcctivc ends of the sheet are secured, each roll liaving a recess arranged to register with said cut-out portion ot the. sheet. arms the ends ot' which are adapted to ride on the sheet and to drop into said recesses for operative connection, with said rollers. ar

driving mechanism, stop mechanism under thc control ot said arms. and shitting mech anism connected witlrthc stop mechanism and movable relatively thc-reto so that said shi'l'tiner mechanism and said stop mechanism will be operated successively, said shittingr mechanism operatingr to connect one roll or the other with said dri ving mechanism.

I. ln a mechanical musical instrument, the combination of two rollers. a notc sheet having` its respective ends .secured to said rollers and'airangcd to travel from one to the other. mechanism for reversingr thc dircction ot' tli e shccts movcnicut. and a note shcct holdcr arranged to engage said noie shcct and opcrativcl \y conncctcd with said mechanism. Y

4. ln a mechanical musical instrument. thc combination ot' a note sheet. two rollers to which thc respective cnds ol" thc shcet arc secured` mechanism controlled by the ends of the shcct for reversing the direction ol the shcct`s travel. a stop mechanism lor said rollcrs. sound producingr devices. a locking mechanism operatively conncctcd with the revcrfdnit' mechanism for holding thc sound producing devices in an inactive. position,4

lll)

' 'sheets travel, stop mechanism having 'an operating 'portion arranged to en age said sheet and movable transversely t ereivith,

and means, controlled by the reversing mechanism, for alternately locking said stop mechanism against movement and fordreleasing said stop mechanism. 6. In. a mechanical musical instrument', the combination of a note sheet, two`rollers to which the respective endsl of said note sheet are secured, a driving device, arevers-l ing device for connecting said driving device with said rollers alternately, soi1ndreducing devices, a movable note sheet liolder, a stop device movable `into 'and out of operative position by lsaid sheet in its longitudinal movement., another stop device controlled by .a movement of the sheety transversely to the plane of its traveling portion, a rock shaft having means for controlling the operationmf the sound-producing devices and the two-stop devices, a cam controlling the position :of said rock shaft and said note sheet holder, means controlled by the end portions of the sheet, for shifting said cam, and an operating connection from t-he camltothe reversing device, said connection comprising loose parts so that the cam may move part of the dist-ance without affecting th'el reversing device.

7. In a mechanica-l musical instrument; the combination of a note sheet, rollers on which it is adapted to wind alternately,

means for reversing the directionof the note sheets travel, a movable sheet holder arranged 'to enga e said note sheet during the playing of a se ection and .operatedby said reversing means, and a dash-pot for insuring a smooth and noiseless movement of the note sheet holder.

8. In a mechanical musical instrument; the combination of a note sheet, rollers on which 'it is adapted to wind alternately,

means for reversing the direction of the note sheets travel, a movable sheet holder arranged to enga e said note sheet during the playing of a se ection and operated by said reversing means, and a yielding check for insuring a smooth and noiseless movement ot' the note sheet holder. V

9.111 a mechanical musical instrument, the combination of a note sheet,rollers on which it is adapted to windalternately, a driving mechanism and mechanism for connecting it alternately with said rollers, a movable note sheet holder arranged to engage the notesheet on one side, a roller arranged to bear against the opposite side of the note sheetI in registry with said note sheet holder, a stop mechanism controlled by the movement of the last named roller, and means, controlled by the mechanism which connects the driving mechanism with one winding roller or the other, for rendering said stop mechanism inactive.

10. In a mechanical'musical instrument, 1

the combination of a note sheet, two rollers to which the respective ends of the sheet are secured, stop mechanism movable to an inoperative position by the sheet when the lat-l ter is being moved into the playing position,

mechanism for reversing the direction of the sheet-s travel, means arranged to move the sheet transversely of its direction of travel prior to itsrreturn or re-rolling, and means" for maintaining the stop mechanism in an inactiveposition during such transverse movement of t-he note sheet.

11. In a mechanical musical instrument the combination of the note sheettio rolls to which the respective ends of the'slieet are secured, va drivin mechanism, reversing means for connecting said driving mechanism with the rollers alternately, said reversing means being maintained in an inoperative posit-ion by said note sheet and stop vmechanism moved to an inoperative position by the sheet and adapted to become operative at the end of the. return or're rollin of the sheet.

12. n a musical instrument., the combination of the note sheet, two rbllers to which ico the respective ends of the sheet are secured,

a driving mechanism, reversing means for connecting said driving mechanism with the rollers alternately, said reversing means being cont-rolled by .the note sheet, vibrating sound producing devices, means operated by the sheet during its travel while iii its playing position for holding said sound producing devices against vibrationand releasing them foroperat-ion when required, mechanism operated by the end portions of the sheet for actuating ,said means whereby saidl sound producing devices are held against vibration during the return or rerolling of the sheet.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. A

` j HENRY KOCH.

llVitnesses:` A J. B. Fmmanf JULrUs Lu'rz. 

